A Greeting of Welcome
by Angel Gidget
Summary: When the Jedi die, they become one with the force. In the case of Anakin Solo, he is greeted by the one person he has wanted to meet more than anything.


Title: A Greeting of Welcome  
  
Author: Christy S.  
  
Rating: G  
  
Genre: General/Jedi Philosophizing  
  
Setting: EU, The Death of Anakin Solo  
  
Characters: Anakin Solo & Anakin Skywalker  
  
Summary: When the Jedi die, they become one with the force. In the case of Anakin Solo, he is greeted by the one person he has wanted to meet more than anything.  
  
Disclaimer: I am the fan. I get reviews. George Lucas is the man. He gets the money.  
  
A/N: Nope, haven't read the book yet. The whole thing's pure speculation. If you detect an inaccuracy, the only way you're gonna be able to verbalize it is by reviewing.  
  
A GREETING OF WELCOME  
  
There is one final coherent thought. It is her golden hair flowing about her sad face and the fact that even in her anguish following his death, she will still hate wearing shoes. Tahiri. After her, the thoughts become jumbled. He is gone. Dead. Become one with...with what? He can't think of it. He can't think of anything. He can only see.  
  
He sees himself, but it is not his story. He is as he is, fighting for the sake of friends and family. He is younger, training at the academy...meeting Tahiri for the first time. He is a child, running around with Jacen and Jaina on the vacation to Corelia that went so horribly wrong. He is a baby, newly born, bringing a brilliant light into the joyous eyes of his mother's tired face.  
  
It is then before his time and he sees his family. The birth of his twin siblings. The marriage of his parents. The courtship of his mother. He then begins to see the story as it was told to him a thousand times over as a child. He sees his uncle's face, young and sad, as he burns the body of Darth Vader. He sees the battle that caused such injuries. He sees his mother and uncle discovering their own connection as brother and sister: as twins. He sees the way his mother and father met. He sees his uncle Luke as a boy, gazing out into the Tatooine double sunset, wondering what destiny is in store for him.  
  
It is here that the things that he has always known...end. He sees a sad woman pacing back and forth. She is beautiful and once held the hope of her planet in her hand. She is preparing to let go of her family. He sees a young man. His hair was once gold, but it has darkened as age and evil had darkened him. It was not always so. The story continues to regress. The man grows younger, and the woman is no longer despairing. It will be many years before those worries come to haunt her. They are friends who have fallen in love. Much like himself. Much like Tahiri.  
  
He sees their first meeting. They are both children without childhoods. It is a quiet slave woman he now sees, she works diligently for her greedy master, and she lightly places her hand to her abdomen. A baby rests there. A child with a great destiny, and no father. The story leaps back. He sees the glory days of the Sith. The ancient times before the law of there being only two, when they numbered greatly, but fell destroying one another, till only two remained: master and apprentice.  
  
He sees this and more, as his every question, his every waking puzzlement of every instant in his life is answered. He sees the past which is the story of his galaxy and he sees his place in it. He possesses an inkling of the future of his family and sees the thriving of each planet his loved ones touch. He understands even those most personal concerns, the questions he has always desired to ask with all his being of his very namesake.  
  
It is then that the blurry regression fades. It is time to move on. It is time to be one with the Force. The images before him become a gray haze that parts, giving birth the the sharpest sight imaginable. Tangible eyes of a physical body could never compare to the clarity of the Force.  
  
It is a sight that he has not foreseen, but it is not wholly unexpected. It is the young man with golden hair. He is old. He is wise. He has the appearance of a young man. His hair is short with one exception: a single braid extending from behind his ear to rest upon his shoulder. He is dressed in simple robes, and wears a simple and genuine smile to accompany them. He has been waiting here for quite some time. Waiting for him.  
  
"Hello, Anakin."  
  
He has been waiting to meet him.  
  
"Hello, Anakin."  
  
He has been waiting to meet his namesake.  
  
The plain-robed Jedi arises, placing his arm around Anakin, ruffling his dark hair. They have one another's eyes, and they twinkle with the same life that does not require physical breath to shine. It is then that Anakin Solo realizes that he is on the side of a hill. The mists still surround them both and he is being led to the hilltop. They reach the summit, and the last of the mists part.  
  
He sees the sad woman, no longer sad. Young, carefree, still in love, but very wise. He sees the Jedi knights of legend that he has heard his teacher Tione sing of. He sees fallen friends, and new ones to be made. He sees a world without time.  
  
"Dearest grandson..."  
  
Anakin looks into his own blue eyes. His grandfather's eyes.  
  
"...Anakin...welcome home."  
  
FIN 


End file.
